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Foster child to be taken away because Christian couple refuse to teach him about homosexuality
Last updated at 06:22am on 24.10.07They are devoted foster parents with an unblemished record of caring for almost 30 vulnerable children.
But Vincent and Pauline Matherick will this week have their latest foster son taken away because they have refused to sign new sexual equality regulations.
Vincent and Pauline Matherick: Face being struck off despite fostering 28 times
To do so, they claim, would force them to promote homosexuality and go against their Christian faith.
The 11-year-old boy, who has been in their care for two years, will be placed in a council hostel this week and the Mathericks will no longer be given children to look after.
The devastated couple, who have three grown up children of their own, became foster parents in 2001 and have since cared for 28 children at their home in Chard, Somerset.
Earlier this year, Somerset County Council's social services department asked them to sign a contract to implement Labour's new Sexual Orientation Regulations, part of the Equality Act 2006, which make discrimination on the grounds of sexuality illegal.
Officials told the couple that under the regulations they would be required to discuss same-sex relationships with children as young as 11 and tell them that gay partnerships were just as acceptable as heterosexual marriages.
They could also be required to take teenagers to gay association meetings.
When the Mathericks objected, they were told they would be taken off the register of foster parents.
The Mathericks have decided to resign rather than face the humiliation of being expelled.
Mr Matherick, a 65-year-old retired travel agent and a primary school governor, said: "I simply could not agree to do it because it is against my central beliefs.
"We have never discriminated against anybody but I cannot preach the benefits of homosexuality when I believe it is against the word of God."
Mrs Matherick, 61, said they had asked if they could continue looking after their foster son until he is found a permanent home, but officials refused and he will be placed in a council hostel on Friday.
She said: "He was very upset to begin with. We are all very close, but he's a mature young man and he's dealing with it."
The couple, who have six grandchildren and one greatgrandchild, are both ministers at the nonconformist South Chard Christian Church.
When they first started fostering they took in young single mothers and their babies.
More recently they have been caring for children of primary school age.
Mr Matherick added: "It's terrible that we've been forced into this corner. It just should not happen.
"There are not enough foster carers around anyway without these rules.
"They were saying that we had to be prepared to talk about sexuality with 11-year-olds, which I don't think is appropriate anyway, but not only that, to be prepared to explain how gay people date.
"They said we would even have to take a teenager to gay association meetings.
"How can I do that when it's totally against what I believe?"
Religious campaigners say the couple are the latest victims of an equality drive which puts gay rights above religious beliefs.
Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders have complained that the rules force them to overturn long-held beliefs.
The Mathericks are planning to fight their case in the courts with the backing of the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship.
The same organisation is backing Christian magistrate Andrew McClintock who resigned from the family courts in a row over gay adoption.
He says he was forced to resign because he was not allowed to opt out of cases where he might have to send a child to live with gay parents.
The Mathericks' case comes at a time when there is a chronic shortage of foster parents, who work on a voluntary basis.
An extra 8,000 are needed to plug the gaps in the service.
Researchers have found that continually moving children from home to home can have a devastating impact on their education and general welfare.
But a report last year revealed that the shortage of carers meant that some children in care are being forced to move up to three times a year.
David Taylor, Somerset County Council's corporate director for children and young people, said: "No decision has been made about the deregistration of Mr and Mrs Matherick.
"The council is committed to promoting the interests of children and young people and welcomes foster carers from all backgrounds and faiths."
Reader views (10)
Here's a sample of the latest views published.
Religious beliefs should not stand in the way of equality. Up until the 1960s, the Mormons taught that black people were angels who'd been cast down to earth for siding with the devil. Many Muslim states turn a blind eye to the "honour" killing of women. Do we just say that because these views are held on religious grounds that they have to be tolerated. Gay youngsters need support - having been bullied in the past. Foster parents should not be forcing their religious views on to their charges. I'd fully support the council's move. And the silly argument that homosexuality is being "promoted" to children is a deliberate distortion of what the legislation intends. It's to protect children who are that much more vulnerable on account of their sexuality - which they can do nothing about. Unless you think homosexuality can be beaten out of kids. A view once commonly held.
- Ross Todhunter, London, UK
It'd be different if they were preaching homophobia to their foster children but they're not. They shouldn't be made to socially engineer these children if they don't want to - who actually sits their 11 year old child down and takes them through the dating of a gay couple? It's not like this is an issue of discipline, or upbringing - if they don't feel like teaching an 11 year old about hetero or homosexuality then the state shouldn't be forcing them to! Maybe if the children ask but only then.
- Isabel, Woking, England
Thinking about it a bit more, if God thought homosexuality is ok, then he could have created Adam and George instead of Adam and Eve, then where would we all be now ?
- Derek Hope, Sidcup, England
Let's hope God will turn those idiots at Somerset Social Services into pillars of salt!
- Derek Hope, Sidcup, England
Would this make headlines if the couple were extreme Muslims? I don’t think so.
This couple have been fostering for years and need to move with the times. Not talking to children about sexuality? No one is saying you have to go into graphic detail but there is no harm in explaining to children that some adults have relationships with other people of their own gender. So many children in care have been exposed to sex at a young age and naturally will have questions around sex.
What would this couple do if the child they were fostering told them they were gay?
It does seem a bit extreme that this couple will not be allowed to foster any more children when we are crying out for foster carers.
- Julie, London
"Anglo-Saxon Christian Bashing" - a favourite past time for Brezhnev Brown and his Labour Sycophants.
- Frank, Home Counties, England
How is it that Muslims can refuse to serve alcohol in a supermarket and also refuse to do abortions, but Christians can't refuse to promote homosexuality?
- Jayne L, London
Devout christians being punished by the government for their faith and a government giving no thought to the happiness of an 11-year old boy.
This supposedly "free" country of ours has become a sad place.
- Robin, London, UK
Will this mean that ALL parents are required to actively promote and encourage homosexuality to our natural children? If not then why should foster couples be forced to do so?
- Marc, Harrow, UK
More political correctness gone mad. So they take a child from a caring and stable home environment and stick him in a care home, where he's much more likely to learn about homosexuality in a less than refined manner. And what is a county council doing with a 'corporate director' for goodness sake? These people are public servants and should remember that fact.
- Paul, London
